Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 3, No. 18, April, 1859 by Various

V >> Various >> Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 3, No. 18, April, 1859

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21

But it is not merely through "his non-acquaintance with Indian
character" that Mr. Prescott was at fault. He was also, it appears, in a
hopeless state of ignorance in regard to the political institutions of
Spain. He knew nothing of the Spanish censorship, and its restrictions
upon the freedom of the press. "He showed his faith," writes Mr. Wilson,
"by the expenditure of a fortune at the commencement of his enterprise,
in the purchase of books and MSS. relating to 'America of the
Spaniards.'" This last phrase is marked as quoted, but we believe it to
be the author's own. "These were the materials out of which he framed
his _two_ histories of the _two_ aboriginal empires, Mexico and Peru. At
the time these works were written _he could not have had the remotest
idea of the circumstances under which his Spanish authorities had been
produced_, or of the external pressure that gave them their peculiar
form and character. _He could hardly understand_ that peculiar
organization of Spanish society through which one set of opinions might
be uniformly expressed in public, while the intellectual classes in
secret entertain entirely opposite ones. He acted throughout in the most
perfect good faith; and if, on a subsequent scrutiny, his authorities
have proved to be the fabulous creations of Spanish-Arabian fancy, he
is not in fault." (p. 104.)--We, also, desire to deal in "perfect good
faith" with our readers, who will naturally inquire what new light has
been thrown on the "peculiar organization of Spanish society," and on
the conditions which limit the expression of opinions in Spain, since
Mr. Prescott made those subjects his especial study. We have looked
carefully through Mr. Wilson's book in the hope of being enabled to
answer this inquiry; but we have found nothing but partial and incorrect
statements of facts with which the public is already familiar,--nothing
that had escaped the notice of Prescott himself,--nothing that Mr.
Ticknor, in his "History of Spanish Literature," had omitted to state,
and that had not been fully discussed between these two distinguished
men during an intercourse that had originated not only in the warmest
personal friendship, but in the similarity of their studies and
pursuits. On this, as on every other topic of which he treats, Mr.
Wilson is reckless and arrogant in assertion; but on this, as on every
other topic, he makes no show of proofs.

His compliment to Prescott's "good faith" seems, after all, to have
been premature. In other parts of his book we find remarks that seem in
conflict with this admission. He makes several severe strictures on Mr.
Prescott's omission to give due credit to General Cass for his valuable
contribution to Aztec history. "Mr. Prescott nowhere refers to the
subject, as we think he ought to have done." (p. 30.) "The ink was
hardly dry on the leaves of the North American Quarterly which contained
the exposure of these fictions, when another contributor to the same
periodical, Mr. Prescott, began his history, founded on authors already
_denounced as fabulous by so high an authority as the Hon. Lewis Cass_!"
Think of the unparalleled audacity of the author of the "History of
Ferdinand and Isabella" in actually exercising his own judgment with
regard to the credibility of the Spanish chroniclers, after so high an
authority had pronounced against them! However, we are not yet prepared
to abandon our own belief in Mr. Prescott's "good faith." We really
believe that he was guilty of no intentional disrespect towards the Hon.
Lewis Cass. It is possible that he may never have seen the article in
question. Contributors to periodicals are sometimes sadly neglectful of
the most brilliant performances of their _confreres_. We doubt whether
the "Autocrat" has ever read with proper attention any of our own
modest, but not, we hope, inelegant effusions.

Mr. Wilson is not without a suspicion that the world may be slow to
surrender its confidence in the veracity and accuracy of a writer
whose works have already stood the test of many a severe and critical
examination. When this idea breaks upon his mind, he manages to lash
himself into a state of considerable excitement. He foresees the
difficulty of convincing "those who take an array of great names for
the foundation of their belief, and those who judge a work only by the
elegance with which its periods are strung together. And, besides these
two,"--meaning, we presume, not two men, but two classes of men,--"we
have to encounter also the opposition of _savans_--men who live and
judge the outside world through the medium of books alone. These hold as
of no account, all but Greece and Rome," [the proof-reader is requested
not to disturb Mr. Wilson's punctuation,] "and receive no idea of
antiquity that does not come through them. For any, then, too wise to
learn or too thoughtless to inquire, this chapter is not designed....
Many there are," [how many, we wonder,] "who have dealt in Spanish
romances, supposing them to be history; and these are slow to abandon
their delusions. At enormous expense they have gathered volumes of
authorities; will they readily admit them to be cheats and counterfeits?
They grudge the time too they have spent in their perusal; and are loth,
as well they may be, to lose it. But individual loss and injury _is_"
[the proof-reader will please not to interfere with Mr. Wilson's
grammar] "perhaps inevitable in the search after truth. Men cannot
be held down to the theories of barbarism. These must give way to
knowledge, _or the intelligent, as in Roman Catholic countries, be
driven to infidelity."_ [The printer may venture to italicize the
closing prediction, as we wish to bring it under the particular notice
of school-committees and superintendents of education, who will see
the fearful responsibility they incur by placing copies of Prescott's
Histories, bound in sheep, in their school-libraries.]

But we interrupt the flow of our author's bile by these irrelevant
remarks. Let him have a full hearing: "Before closing this chapter, the
status of our literature suggests an apology is necessary, for having
opened it in conformity with the, now neglected, rules of history--that
we should try and snatch something from the wreck of antiquity." [We
cheerfully offer a reward of one copy of the present number of the
"Atlantic" to any person who will parse the last sentence, explain the
punctuation of it, and interpret its meaning.] "In other countries, the
standard of history has been steadily rising for centuries; but with
us, it has been so lowered, as to sink every other qualification in the
single one of turning faultless periods; and a gentleman possessing
this, has been adjudged fully capable of purging the annals of Spain and
her quondam colonies, from the mass of modern fable and forgery which
now disfigure them. Incapable of submitting Cortez' statement to
the test, he assumes it to be true, even in those parts where it is
impossible. Unable to detect the counterfeit in Diaz--he pronounces him
the 'child of nature,' but does not on the testimony of this natural
child reject the still more monstrous falsifier, _Gomora_; but adopts
them both, according to the custom of novelists; and not the slightest
objection is raised. Then descending lower and still lower; disregarding
alike the warning of Lord Bacon 'a credulous man is a deceiver,' and
of Tacitus _fingunt simul creduntque_--he rakes up even a devotee,
Boturini, and makes him also an historic authority, without overtaxing
public credulity; though this wretch, as we have seen, out-Munchausens
Pietro himself, and as he may have surpassed every other man in Spain in
drawing the long bow, was justly selected for historiographer, at a time
when death was the penalty for possessing a book not licensed by the
Inquisition. Thus are discarded and disgusting impostures brought up
from the literary cesspools of Spain to form for us the history of
events that, transpired on this continent hardly more than three hundred
years ago!" (pp. 263, 264.) Instead of noticing the blunders and
absurdities with which this paragraph is filled, we shall simply call
attention to the remarkable good taste displayed in its allusions to
a person with whom the writer, as he boasts, had maintained "the most
kindly relations," from whom, as we have seen, he had received friendly
offers of aid, and to whom, but a short time before the occurrence of
that event which has so lately thrown the whole nation into mourning, he
had been indebted, by his own admission, for the warmest encouragement
in the prosecution of his inquiries.

But, though Prescott is the principal object of Mr. Wilson's assaults,
he does not fall, for he has not stood, alone. With the single exception
of the Hon. Lewis Cass, every modern writer who has investigated the
history and former condition of Spanish America, either with the help of
books or of personal observation of the present state of that part
of our continent, shares the same fate. Robertson, Dupaix, Stephens,
Humboldt, are all objects of Mr. Wilson's vituperation or contempt. To
say that Alexander von Humboldt is probably the most learned man in
Europe, and that Robert A. Wilson is undoubtedly one of the most
ignorant men in America, would give but a slight notion of the
contrast between them. Humboldt is not merely a man of science and a
philosopher,--titles which the adopted Iroquois regards with natural
scorn,--he has been also a great traveller, and knows almost every
part of Spanish America from personal examination. Yet his claims to be
considered as an authority on questions which no other living man is
so competent to decide are disposed of by his shallow and conceited
opponent in a single brief paragraph, which ends with a statement that
"the only defect in his work is, that he started from false premises,
_and of course his conclusions amount to nothing_."

Robertson, however, is the especial butt of Mr. Wilson's unwieldy
sarcasms. Robertson, he tells us, was the "principal of the University
High School of Edinburgh,"--an institution of which we do not
remember ever to have heard before. He is especially indignant that
"Robertson--_a Presbyterian minister!_" (the Italics and note of
admiration are Mr. Wilson's own) should have dared even to attempt to
write a history of America. As Roman Catholics are also forbidden to
venture on this ground, we should be glad to know the particular sect or
sects to whose use it is to be appropriated. A principal cause of our
author's spite against Dr. Robertson appears to have been a statement
made by the latter, that the Iroquois are cannibals. This allegation
evidently touches a sensitive point. It is indignantly denied by the
adopted member of the tribe. The Iroquois, he says, like other Indians,
never eat human flesh, unless driven to it by hunger. He turns the
tables (on which this ill-omened repast is spread) against the worthy
Doctor. He charges him (falsely, however) with having represented
Charles the Fifth as "a pattern of abstinence," when he was in fact one
of the greatest of royal _gourmands_. On this point he is willing for
once to accept even the authority of Mr. Prescott, who, he says, has
upset Robertson's reputation as an historian by means of "the _Samanca_
papers."

Mr. Wilson so often returns to these "Samanca" papers, and appears to
labor under so many delusions in regard to them, that, hopeless as the
attempt may seem, we cannot help trying to let a little daylight into
his mind. "Mr. Prescott," he writes, "having obtained copies of the most
important _Simanca_" [the reader must not be surprised at these little
variations of orthography] "papers of Ximenes' collection, supposes them
a new discovery, of great value. _Doubtless they are;_" [then there
could be no great harm in supposing it;] "his agents did not fail to
represent them to him in the most exalted terms, to enhance the value of
their services according to the Spanish custom." Now we can assure Mr.
Wilson that Mr. Prescott had not in his possession a copy of a single
document placed in the Archives of Simancas (for so an excusable
partiality for custom, and not any want of respect for our author,
obliges us to spell this name) by Cardinal Ximenes. He will also, we
trust, be glad to learn, that, for the documents relating to the Emperor
Charles the Fifth which Mr. Prescott did receive from Simancas, he paid
not a _real_ beyond the established charge of the official copyists,--a
charge which is the same in all cases, whatever may be the value of
the originals,--the task of examining the collection and selecting the
letters suitable for the purpose having been a labor of love on the part
of the distinguished scholar by whom it was undertaken.

Mr. Wilson is animated by a fervent hatred against Cardinal Ximenes,--or
"Jimines," as he sometimes calls him. He terms him "a monster," and "a
wretch," and is especially indignant at his having "founded the Samanca
collection of papers." "Any one," he adds, "who will carefully examine
them will see that hardly a single paper has been put into this
collection that does not, in some way, reflect glory on the church, or
show the royal approval of the Inquisition." We cannot undertake to say
what discoveries might be made by a person who should carefully examine
the collection of papers at Simancas. A scholar on whom the antediluvian
length of life necessary for such a labor had been bestowed might also
be endowed with commensurate powers of intellect that might lead to the
most astonishing results. Our own knowledge of the collection is limited
to a very small portion of its contents,--a mere drop in the enormous
bucket. We have been under the impression that explorers who had spent
long periods of time in the examination,--Lembke or Gachard, for
example,--had sunk their shafts but a little way into that great mine.
At all events, we feel particularly certain that Mr. Wilson never in his
life saw a single manuscript, or a single copy of a manuscript, from the
Archives of Simancas.

"The monk Strada," our author goes on to inform us, "must have consulted
them" [the "Samanca papers"] "in the composition of his history of the
Low Country Wars, though he does not call the papers by that name."
[We should hope not.] "The _Glanville_ papers are not alone his
authorities." With regard to the "Glanville papers," we cannot speak
positively, never having seen them, or even heard of them. If an
allusion is intended to the "State Papers of Cardinal _Granvelle_," we
admit that these were not Strada's _only_ authorities; in fact, they
were not his authorities at all; he never had the opportunity of
consulting them. "Robertson's convent life of Charles V.," Mr. Wilson
continues, "is almost literally taken from Strada." Now, if Strada
followed the "Samanca papers," and Robertson has followed Strada, how
is it that these same papers have been the groundwork for a complete
refutation of Robertson? Surely, when brought to light, they ought,
on the contrary, to have confirmed his statements. The truth is, that
Strada, who had access to no other manuscripts than those in possession
of the Farnese family, never saw the "Samanca papers"; and Robertson,
far from following Strada exclusively, relied much more on the authority
of Sandoval and other Spanish writers.

But our readers will naturally inquire what these matters have to do
with the Aztec civilization and the Conquest of Mexico. So far as we
know, nothing at all. We have merely followed our Iroquois foe, and
kept perseveringly upon his track in the jungle to which he has taken.
Whatever course he may take, we are determined to follow him. He shall
not elude us. Through all the windings of his eccentric route, through
pathless forests, across rugged sierras, along the sides of nameless
streams, we shall pursue his trail. On the summit of the great
_teocalli_ of Mexico, dedicated to the fearful deity, _Huitzilopotchli_,
he shall be offered up as a sacrifice, according to the awful customs
in which he affects to disbelieve. We are compelled, indeed, by want of
space, to grant him a respite for a month. Our present notice must be
regarded only as a parboiling "preliminary." At the end of that time,
with all due form and ceremony, we promise that the solemn rite shall be
completed.

Bunsen's _Gott in der Geschichte_. (God in History.) Zweite Theil.
(Second Part.) Leipzig. 1858.

There is, probably, no philosophical author at the present day in
Germany whose works are welcomed by so wide a circle of readers in
America as those of Chevalier Bunsen. Though often more theoretical than
exact in scholarship, and allowing his historical instincts to take the
place of scientific conclusions, he not unfrequently anticipates thus
the laborious efforts of scholars, while his peculiar _suggestiveness_
of thought and his scope of view interest extremely the common student,
and lend a charm to his works such as no other writer in the same
field possesses. He has the art of making other men work for him, and,
perhaps, has thus been tempted to write too much for his own fame.

The great service for which posterity will thank Chevalier Bunsen
is, that, in an age of bigotry and of skepticism, he has especially
represented the union of Philosophy and Christianity, and has shown that
the freest historical criticism and the most open recognition of the
moral principle through all faiths and races are harmonious with the
most devout belief in the divine manifestation of Christ. This book,
"God in History," is written from his most advanced and religious
stand-point, and seems to us the best fruit, thus far, of his studies.
It is compact, consistent, and not marred by his usual defect,--a
certain mysticism or indefiniteness of thought,--but is clear and
philosophical to the close. It is not to be looked upon as a complete
philosophical history, but rather as a suggestive and introductory
treatise on that grandest of all themes, the Progress of the Instinct of
God through Human History. His own definition of his subject is, that
it is a history of the "Consciousness of God in Mankind"; but, as he
unfolds his idea, it is evidently not always the consciousness, but the
unconscious instinct of God, whose progress he is describing.

The first part of the present volume--the Third Book--is occupied with a
brief, but exceedingly instructive investigation of the development of
this instinct in the Aryans of Persia and of India; and in this inquiry
the two prominent historical figures are Zoroaster and Buddha, or, as
our author might have named them, the Moses and the Luther of the
early Aryan religions,--the one the Lawgiver and the Founder of a pure
monotheism in the place of a slavish belief in elementary powers, and
the other the great Reformer of a corrupted faith in behalf of an
oppressed people.

The illustrations which Bunsen gives of these two wonderful expressions
of the instinct of God in the remote past, the religions of Zoroaster
and Buddha, are exceedingly fresh and original. They are contained
mostly in sacrificial and festal hymns and songs which have not hitherto
been much known, even to scholars.

As an introduction to and historical preparation for these two great
forms of belief, he describes also the instinct of Deity as it had
developed itself among the Turanians, the Chinese, and the Egyptians.

The period embraced in the Third Book is about 2500 years, from the
supposed epoch of Zoroaster (3000 B.C.) to that of Buddha (541 B.C.).

The Fourth Book treats of the instinct of God among the Greeks and
Romans, "from the singer of the Iliad (900 B.C.) down to the Baruch of
the Roman world, the prophet of the downfall of the Aryan Ante-Christian
civilization,--Tacitus." This God-consciousness is found first in
the Grecian feeling of the Commonwealth,--the idea of a common good
surpassing a personal good; then in the conception of the Epic, which
assumes a political as well as a physical Kosmos, or order; then in the
grand moral ideas lying at the basis of the Mythology,--the myths, for
instance, of Prometheus, and the picture of Nemesis and the Fates. Next,
the deep sense of God speaks out in Grecian Tragedy and the great works
of Grecian Art; and in the highest degree, in the Philosophy which
culminated in Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.

The Roman expression of these profound instincts is placed by Bunsen far
below the Grecian. It is manifested especially in their idea of Law, and
even in the doubts and despair of their leading thinkers in the time of
the Emperors.

The closing portion of the volume terminates the history of the progress
of the idea of God before Christianity, among the Aryan races, by a
description of the religious instincts of the Teutonic tribes. In their
respect for woman and for marriage, in their political commonwealths,
in their worship of one God, and their belief in a moral Kosmos, Bunsen
beholds the expression of the Divine idea within them, preparing for the
more full development which is to come through the ideas and spirit
of Christianity. The book closes fitly with the grand prophecy of the
Voeluspa in the Scandinavian Edda.

We regret that want of space should prevent us from giving extracts from
this most eloquent and philosophic work. Its glory is, that, breaking
through the formulae of creeds and the external signs of religious
faith, it has the courage to listen to the voice of God all along the
devious course of human history,--hearing that mysterious tone, not
alone in the chants of the Hebrews or the confessions of the Christians,
but in every smallest utterance of _truth_, every syllable of unselfish
patriotism, every groan of offended conscience, every myth springing
from the moral sense, every song, every speech which would exalt the
True, the Beautiful, and the Good over the selfish and false and base.
In Bunsen's philosophy, these, even more than all outward confession and
ceremonial, are the true expression of the workings of the Divine Spirit
in Human History.

RECENT AMERICAN PUBLICATIONS.

Episodes of French History during the Consulate and the First Empire. By
Miss Pardoe. New York. Harper & Brothers. 12mo. pp. 361. $1.00.

La Plata, the Argentine Confederation, and Paraguay. Being a Narrative
of the Exploration of the Tributaries of the River La Plata and Adjacent
Countries during the Years 1853, '54, '55, '56, under the Orders of the
United States Government. By Thomas J. Page, U.S.N., Commander of the
Expedition. With Maps and Numerous Engravings. New York. Harper &
Brothers. 8vo. pp. 632. $3.00.

Symbols of the Capital; or Civilization in New York. By A.D. Mayo. New
York. Thatcher & Hutchinson. 12mo. pp. 358. $1.00.

Biographies of Distinguished Scientific Men. By Francois Arago, Member
of the Institute. Translated by Admiral W.H. Smyth, D.C.L., F.R.S.,
etc., the Rev. Baden Powell, M.A., F.R.S., and Robert Grant, M.A.,
F.R.A.S. Second Series. Boston. Ticknor & Fields. 16mo. pp. 486. $1.00.

The Life and Remains of Douglas Jerrold. By his Son, Blanchard Jerrold.
Boston. Ticknor & Fields. 16mo. pp. 450. $1.00.

The Laird of Norlaw. A Scottish Story. By the Author of "Margaret
Maitland," etc. New York. Harder & Brothers. 12mo. pp. 390. $1.00.

Life of John H.W. Hawkins. Compiled by his Son, Rev. William George
Hawkins, A.M. Boston. J.P. Jewett & Co. 12mo. pp. 443. $1.00.

European Life, Legend, and Landscape. By an Artist. Philadelphia. James
Challen & Son. 12mo. pp. 154. 75 cts.

Christian Morals. By James Challen. Philadelphia. James Challen & Son.
18mo. pp. 199. 50 cts.

Carpentry Made Easy; or the Science and Art of Framing on a New and
Improved System. With Specific Instruction for Building Balloon Frames,
Church Spires, etc.; comprising also a System of Bridge-Building.
With Bills, Estimates of Cost, and Valuable Tables. Illustrated by
Thirty-eight Plates and near Two Hundred Figures. By William E. Bell,
Architect and Practical Builder. Philadelphia. Lindsay and Blakiston.
8vo. pp. 134. $3.00.

Lives of the Queens of Scotland and English Princesses connected with
the Regal Succession in Great Britain. By Agnes Strickland, Author
of the "Lives of the Queens of England." Vol. 7. New York. Harper &
Brothers. 12mo. pp. 470. $1.00.

The Old Plantation, and What I Gathered there in an Autumn Month. By
James Hungerford, of Maryland. New York. Harper & Brothers. 12mo. pp.
369. $1.00.

Rustic Rhymes. By the Author of "Winter Studies in the Country."
Philadelphia. Parry & McMillan. 16mo. pp. 113. 62 cts.

The Atonement, in its Relations to Law and Moral Government. By Albert
Barnes. Philadelphia. Parry & McMillan. 12mo. pp. 358. $1.00.

Life at Threescore. A Sermon delivered in the First Presbyterian Church,
Philadelphia, November 28th, 1858. By Albert Barnes. Philadelphia. Parry
& McMillan. 16mo. pp. 77. 38 cts.

An Outline of the Necessary Laws of Thought, a Treatise on Pure and
Applied Logic. By William Thomson, D.D., Provost of the Queen's College,
Oxford. From the Fourth London Edition. Cambridge. John Bartlett. 12mo.
pp. 345. $1.00.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21